Cobertura de los medios

Por The Los Angeles Times: Richard Verrier en la octubre 28, 2013

Those who can afford to pay $500 to watch a newly released movie in their own home can now add another luxury perk: the ability to watch it on a giant IMAX screen.

IMAX Corp. has agreed to pay about $2.5 million to acquire up to 20% stake in Prima Cinema Inc., the San Diego-area company that releases premium-priced movies into the home when they are released in theaters.

Under the agreement, set to be announced Monday morning, IMAX will use Prima’s service for its luxury private theaters, which cost $2.5 million and have 20-foot-wide screens.

The deal also makes IMAX the exclusive distributor of Prima's systems over the next five years in China, where the Toronto-based technology company has aggressively expanded. China is now the world's second-largest movie market.

The investment in Prima is part of a broader strategy by IMAX to bring its cinema technology into the home, company executives said.

His past might not sound like the making of a movie-industry giant, but Richard Gelfond is now the CEO of IMAX, a $1.7 billion empire with a presence in more than 700 theaters

Richard Gelfond Bloomberg/Getty Images

Shoeshine boy. A young sports-paper boss. And a 99-cent dry-cleaner owner. His past might not sound like the making of a movie-industry giant, but Richard Gelfond is now the CEO of IMAX, IMX.T -0.20% a $1.7 billion empire with a presence in more than 700 theaters—and part of the movie-going experience for millions of 3D-glasses-wearing film buffs. Now 58 and close with marquee Hollywood figures like director Christopher Nolan, he tells us he made it big because he "was always obsessed by business."

1. 1963: Launches a shoe-shining business at the age of 8 in a barbershop in his Long Island, N.Y., hometown, using his dad's shoeshine kit.

2. 1971: Co-founds New York Ball, a newspaper focused on local sports, as a teen. Publication boasts a circulation of 25,000. Uses the experience to land a job at Newsday in college.

Por USA Today: Claudia Puig en la septiembre 19, 2013

A first-rate conversion to a large-screen, 3-D format makes for a wonderfully vivid experience.

(Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures)

It's easier now than ever to surrender disbelief.

All these decades later, the ruby slippers sparkle with matchless dazzle, the winding brick road looks incomparably yellow and the Emerald City shines an ever-more-alluring green.

Childhood memories will only be enhanced by the vibrant restoration and sharply rendered conversion of The Wizard of Oz: An IMAX 3D Experience (* * * ½ out of four; rated PG; opening Friday nationwide).

Not only is it the oldest film ever to be converted to 3-D, it's also the most iconic. The blend of old-fashioned, classic storytelling with cutting-edge technology is undeniably enthralling.

Por Wall Street Journal: Xiaoqing Pi en la julio 24, 2013

Deal With Dalian Wanda Follows Pact With South Korean Partner

BEIJING—IMAX Corp. IMX.T -0.15%is joining with China's largest cinema chain to build as many as 120 new theaters in the country, dwarfing a deal that the company announced with a Korean partner last week.

Under the agreement, IMAX will add between 40 and 120 theaters. At most, it would bring to 381 the number of IMAX theaters open or planned in China, with Wanda Cinema Line Corp. running up to 210 of them.

Wanda will build 40 new theaters by 2017 and the rest by 2020, said Wanda General Manager Jerry Ye.

There were 126 IMAX theaters in operation in China at the end of June. Greater China accounted for 15% of IMAX's first-half revenue.

The Canada-based company said last week that it would add 30 IMAX screens in China and five in South Korea with Korean partner CJ CGV Co. 079160.SE +0.20%

If Wanda builds all 120 theaters, IMAX would generate as much revenue from China as the U.S., said IMAX Chief Executive Richard Gelfond.